These guidelines have been designed by the department of health to guide the care that is provided for pregnant women and neonates in South Africa. They represent the desired standard of care. Clinicians must be aware of the guideline contents and understand how to implement them.

These guidelines were designed by interdisciplinary healthcare teams to provide safe maternal care based on best evidence and our national context and are believed to be accurate and current at the time of release. These guidelines are intended to provide general advice and guidance and must not be solely relied upon as a substitute for assessing the individual needs of each mother. They must be used in conjunction with a thorough history and clinical examination and considering a particular clinical setting and resource availability.

Individual hospital and community health centers are encouraged to draw up their own protocols based on this content, adjusted to their own circumstances. Additionally, where resource constraints (staffing, infrastructure, equipment or other) prevent the full implementation of these guidelines, formal notification of the constraints and their impact on the ability of clinicians to follow these guidelines should be documented and sent to management.